Are you the parent of a child with autism or a learning disability that receives special education services? Are you having a dispute with special education personnel in your district, over services that your child needs? Have school personnel threatened to bring their attorney to the next IEP meeting? This article contains new information that you can use to advocate for your child and try to prevent the school from including their attorney in your child’s IEP meeting.

In my role as advocate I often hear from parents whose children receive special education services and who believe that it is illegal for schools to include their attorney as a member of the IEP team; which it is not. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 2004 (IDEA 2004) is silent on the subject of attorneys at IEP meetings, either the schools or the parents. This does not mean that attorneys should attend IEP meetings.

Below are six advocacy tips that you can use to increase the chance that special education personnel do not include their attorney in the meetings.

1. Check every written meeting notice that you receive about your child’s IEP meeting to see who will be in attendance. If you see that an attorney’s name is included go to #2 to begin advocating against the tactic.

2. Read and Download OSEP (Office of Special Education Programs) memorandum to Hillary Clinton (July 23, 2001). In this memorandum OSEP states: “an attorney’s presence would have the potential for creating an adversarial atmosphere that would not necessarily be in the best interests of the child. Therefore, the attendance of attorneys at IEP meetings should be strongly discouraged.” The letter can be downloaded at: www.wrightslaw.com/law/osep/usdoe.clinton.iep.pdf.

3. Read and download the above memorandum which states:  “The regulations implementing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) are found at 34 CFR Part 300 (March 12, 1999). Section 300.344 addresses the membership of the IEP team. X has highlighted §300.344(a)(6) which allows attendance at the IEP meeting, "at the discretion of the parent or the agency, other individuals who have knowledge or special expertise regarding the child, including related service’s personnel as appropriate." Use this to discourage school’s attorney at your child’s IEP meeting.

4. Read and Download a copy of the OSEP memorandum to Patricia Roberts (October 23, 2009)to show that having the school district’s attorney at your child’s IEP meeting is not in the best interest of your child. Question 29 in  Appendix A of the IDEA 97 regulations relies on the “best interest” of the child in answering the question of whether school attorneys at IEP meetings is allowed. The letter can be downloaded at: www.wrightslaw.com/law/memos/atty.iep.martin.pdf.

5. Send a short letter to the person that coordinates special education in your district, and make a formal request that the school not include their attorney in your child’s IEP meeting. Include your concerns, as well as copies of the two OSEP memorandum, to advocate your position. In the letter ask for a written response to your request within 5-10 days.

6. If the school refuses to back down, attend the meeting and ask that your objection to the school’s attorney presence be documented, in the notes of the IEP. Ask the attorney if they have any knowledge or expertise on your child; if they say no ask once again that they be excluded from your child’s IEP meeting. Also, if the attorney tries to run the meeting place another objection in the IEP, and consider filing a state complaint with your States Department of Education.

Following these steps will increase your chance that special education personnel will reconsider bringing their attorney to your child’s IEP meeting, which may make consensus easier to reach! Good luck

Are you the parent of a child with autism, or another disability that receives special education services?  Would you like to learn top advocacy tips from someone who has been a successful educational advocate for over twenty years? This article is for you. I was recently asked during an interview for my top five advocacy tips to parents, and here they are.

My top five advocacy tips:

**Trust your instincts. If you think, your child has disabilities in certain areas trust yourself. No one knows your child like you do, and you are the best judge of what will help your child learn. It is my experience that special education personnel may try and tell you that your instincts are wrong, but only accept this, if there is concrete evidence to back it up. You are the only advocate whom your child has, and they are depending on you to advocate for needed related and special education services.

**Important educational issues need to be handled by letters not telephone calls or e mails, so that you can begin developing a paper trail for documentation. You can use this documentation to prove your case in a dispute with special education personnel. Many parents like to send e-mails to special education personnel, but I do not like e-mails. The reason: e-mails are kept in an electronic record, and not in the child’s written educational record; which makes access and use more difficult. 

**If you have a verbal conversation with school personnel and want to document the conversation, you can always write a short letter to the person that you had the conversation with.  Try and keep the letter to one page, date it, and give a summary of the conversation.  Also, keep a copy for yourself, as part of your paper trail.

**If special education personnel say something that does not sound right to you, ask them: “Please show me in writing where in Federal or State law it states you have the right to do what you want to do or not do what I asked you to do to benefit my child’s education.” In my opinion, this is one of the most important advocacy skills that parents need to learn, because of the amount of misinformation that is given to parents. If school personnel cannot show you in writing from Federal or State law where it states they have the right to do something or do not have to do something you asked them to do, you know that they are not being truthful.

Use the same procedure if school personnel state that they have to do something, or cannot do something because it is school policy—ask to see the policy in writing, and also ask for a transcript of the board meeting where the policy was passed. 

** If your school district evaluates your child for disabilities and states that your child does not have any disabilities (even though you believe they do), and is not eligible for special education services, you have the right to an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) at public expense  (which means that the school district pays for it). You must disagree with the school’s evaluation, (could be over the actual testing, the areas tested, the interpretation of the testing, the findings and conclusion of the testing, etc) to be able to obtain an IEE at public expense.

**Educate yourself on all laws related to special education, disabilities, and  requirements so that when your school district tries to say things that are not truthful,  you have the information to stand up to them. Learn about State Complaints, Mediation and Due Process to help you resolve any disputes that you have with special education personnel.

By following my top five tips you will well be on your way to successfully advocating for needed services for your child!

No Child Left Behind Reauthorization  In 2002, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was Reauthorized and named the No Child Left Behind Act (NCL of 2002.  I remember saying at the time that NCLB was going to be a blessing for children with disabilities, and that many children with disabilities would learn to read and write due to NCLB. I will later discuss my opinion of the Acts effectiveness but would like to discuss the main components of NCLB.

According to the No Child Left Behind Parent Guide published by the US Department of Education in 2003, NCLB would do for parents and children:

1. Support learning in the early years, thereby preventing many learning difficulties that may arise later
2. Provide more information for parents about their child’s progress
3. Alert parents to important information on the performance of their child’s school
4. Give children and parents a lifeline
5. Improve teaching and learning by providing better information to teachers and principals
6. Ensure that teacher quality is a high priority
7. Gives  more resources to schools
8. It allows more flexibility     and
9. It focuses on what works

No Child Left Behind was finally focusing on school accountability, and had sanctions in place for schools that did not meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). According to NCLB, schools had to have 100% of their student’s proficient by the year 2013-2014.

Has NCLB been successful, in my opinion? Absolutely not!! Why? Because the US Department of Education (US DOE) immediately started watering down NCLB.. According to Arne Duncan, the Head of the US. DOE 82% of the school districts in the US will not meet AYP this year 2011-2012, and would be considered failing schools. So instead of standing up to school districts Arne Duncan and President Obama have decided to make changes to NCLB, and begin giving waivers to all states that ask, so that they will not receive the sanctions put in place when NCLB became law. This is because Congress cannot come to an agreement on how to change NCLB in the reauthorization.

Melody Barnes the director of the White House Domestic Policy Council has told states: “We want to deliver a very important message: Relief is on the way.” The Obama administration has a plan to offer flexibility to states by using its waiver authority.  Parents and advocates for children with disabilities have been extremely upset by this announcement by the Obama administration. To placate parents Duncan states that the applications for Waivers will be Peer Reviewed, whatever that means!

Three states have already applied for these waivers: Michigan, Tennessee, Kentucky; while three other states (Idaho, South Dakota, and Montana) have given notice that they will be applying. I believe in the end-all states will apply for waivers and NCLB will be dead in the water!!!  More children harmed!

If I could I would scream at Arne Duncan and President Obama: “We had state flexibility, and many children were left behind without learning to read and write!! Wake up and stop letting school districts get away with not teaching our children. What a waste of good public money!!  Nothing will change until the US Department of Education stops catering to school districts and starts catering to their constituents—which are children!! Children whose lives are being wasted and ruined forever, because schools refuse to give them an appropriate education to allow them to work and participate in their adult lives!

I recently read an article on a special education Website that I disagreed with. The article is about the ramifications of parents sending certified letters, to their school districts. The author of the article believes that certified letters put special education personnel on the defensive, and may believe that you want evidence of delivery, for future litigation.

In my opinion, this is ridiculous; and is another way that many attorneys and parents are giving in to school personnel’s nastiness, and making their advocacy weaker. Why is this ridiculous, in my opinion? I absolutely refuse to change my advocacy because special education personnel do not like what I am doing! Besides it is not usually parents and advocates who escalate special education disputes, but it is usually determined school personnel that do. So why back down by refusing to send letters certified with a return receipt. I will continue my advocacy in an assertive and persistent manner, no matter how special education personnel act.

I have seen a lot in my 20 years of advocacy: I have almost been hit a few times, once had a school employee almost jump on a table and try to choke me, called every name in the book, and that is just the things I can share with you.  I will say again: no matter how mean and nasty I will not stop fighting for the child who needs services to benefit from their education.

If at all possible, I do recommend hand delivering letters, but that is not always possible. If impossible, I always recommend sending letters by the Postal Service certified with a return receipt. When my son Shaun was 17 years old and I was in a dispute with my school district, both of us sent so many certified letters that I thought we were pen pals.

I do not believe that we should back down from our advocacy efforts because it might upset the school district. I absolutely do not care if they are upset by my advocacy. When Angelina was around 11 years old, the special education coordinator in my district was leaving, to accept another position. Her and I usually got along okay, she at least was willing to listen to my input and suggestions. I went to her office to bring her a plant, and she ushered me into her office (where she preceded to close all the blinds). This is what she said to me: “JoAnn I never got why you fought so hard for your children—until I had children of my own. I get it now! Please promise me that you will never stop fighting for what your children need!” I was so stunned I was crying my head off, and all I could do was shake my head yes!” I have never forgotten that to this day!

As parents and advocates we must fight for children with disabilities so that they can receive an appropriate education and have a chance at a great adult life! I do not care if I upset special education personnel because I know that I am doing the right thing.

My hope is that you will continue to fight for your children, continue documenting what is going on, and keep sending those certified letters! JoAnn

Are you the parent of a child with autism, learning disabilities, or another disability receiving special education services? Are you sick and tired of special education personnel in your district denying your child needed related and special education services? This article will empower you to fight back for your child by addressing important advocacy skills.

Advocacy Strategy 1:  Educate yourself about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 2004 (IDEA 2004) and your states regulations on special education. You can do this by reading books, attending conferences and developing friendships with more experienced parents of children with disabilities. By being educated on federal and state law your chances of success with your advocacy increase.

Advocacy Strategy 2: Documentation is critical in winning a special education dispute. Begin sending letters to document what is occurring in your child’s education. Important verbal conversations must be followed up by a short letter, to the person you spoke to. For Example: Your child’s teacher states in a phone conversation that your child is not progressing, and needs more intense related and special education services. Immediately write a letter to the teacher, including the date and time of the conversation, and what was said. The letter needs to be Hand delivered to the teacher, or sent certified with a return receipt. This will document what the teacher said, even if she denies that she ever said it.

Also, save any letters or other documentation sent from special education personnel.  You should save important school papers, any notes about negative behavior, any documentation that you need to strengthen your advocacy position. I once advocated for a young boy who had negative behavior at school. The school was sending home daily behavior sheets, and I advised the mother to date them, and not throw them away. We used them at a due process to show that when the school district stated the child’s behavior was out of control, the behavior sheet said he was fine. Documentation can win a case, or lack of documentation can lose a case.

Advocacy Strategy 3: Tape record all IEP meetings, and if possible and necessary have a transcriber transcribe them for future use. Transcriptions of IEP meetings can be used at due process as documentation.

In all my years of advocacy, I have never been a huge fan of tape recording, but I have recently changed my mind. School districts have become so bold in denying things they tell parents, that it is critical that parents have documentation of what is being said in meetings, and what the school district is agreeing to. I find a huge discrepancy between what many special education personnel agree to in a meeting, and what is being documented in a child’s IEP. A transcript of a tape recorded meeting could be used as evidence in a due process hearing, to show what the school district agreed to.

Advocacy Strategy 4: Whenever special education personnel want to change a child’s label placement or refuse to change your child’s label or placement, they must give prior written notice (PWN) to you. Also, if they deny services that your child needs, they must also give PWN. For example: If you take your child to an independent evaluator and bring the report of recommendations to the school district, and they refuse to follow the recommendations, they must give you PWN, on why they are not following the recommendations.

Advocacy Strategy 5: Be willing to file state complaints or due process for non compliance with IDEA 2004, or if the school district does not give your child FAPE. Going over the school districts head is the best way to ensure that your child is getting the appropriate services that they need.

With these advocacy strategies under your belt, you will have a better chance of prevailing in a dispute with your school district. Your child is depending on you so work hard for their benefit.

Are you the parent of a child with autism or another disability receiving special education services? Is your child struggling with academics, and you think could benefit from learning functional skills? Learning to read and write are important, but so are functional skills, that can help a child live a full and enriched life! This article will be discussing 3 parenting tips that you can use in your advocacy efforts!

Tip 1: Use Federal special education law Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA 2004 to strengthen your advocacy efforts for functional skill training. IDEA states that every IEP that is developed for a child must contain a statement of the child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance. What does this mean for your child? Your child’s IEP should state what level your child is at in the area of functional skills. Make sure that these statements are based on objective data such as tests and not subjective opinion.

The law also states that the child’s IEP must contain a statement of annual goals in not only academic areas, but functional areas as well. Make sure that the functional goals are specific and are measurable.

Also, make sure that any skills training given to your child is written clearly on your child’s IEP and has specific amount of times that the training will be given. Training needs to be given in natural environments and at natural times. For example: Teeth brushing training needs to be given after the child has eaten, either after lunch or after a snack. Training also needs to be community based, so that the child will be able to generalize the skills to all environments.

Tip 2: Use the purpose and findings of IDEA 2004 to convince special education personnel how important functional skill training is for your child. The purpose of IDEA is to help prepare children for further education, employment and independent living. Children must have appropriate functional skills in order to be prepared for their adult life.

The findings of IDEA 2004 from Congress state that the law is to help improve educational results for children with disabilities, so that there is equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self sufficiency.

Behavior and social skills are two areas of functional skills that are often overlooked by parents and advocates. Ensure that appropriate social skills and behavior is being taught to your child, so that he or she will be able to be a full participant in the community, when they are an adult.

Tip 3:  According to IDEA parents have the right to be full participants in any decision that is made regarding their child’s education. The law also includes a section under IEPs, where any information provided by parents needs to be included. Educating yourself not only on why functional skills are important but what is the appropriate type of training that a child needs is important.

Consider writing your own parent input statement about what type of functional skill training needs to be given to your child. Bring this input statement to your child’s IEP meeting, and make sure that it is attached to your child’s IEP.

Anticipated needs must be addressed by special education personnel and parents. This is a good time to think ahead of the skills that your child will need as an adult, and include functional skill training in your child’s IEP or transition plan.

Use these three tips to help you succeed in your attempt to include functional skills training in your child’s IEP. They will appreciate your efforts to make sure that they are prepared for adult life!

Since my book Disability Deception came out, I have written over 160 free articles on special education! If you are interested in finding my articles, please go to: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=JoAnn_Collins. Feel free to share the above address with other parents.

One of my most popular articles is: “What are Functional Skills and How Can They Help my Child?”  Since I wrote this article a few years ago, I decided to update the article here on my blog, and also add updated information.

Functional Skills are defined as life skills that persons use every day, in different environments. Functional skills focus on different areas such as home, family, self help skills, social skills, independent living skills. Also skills needed for employment and job retention, recreation, community living, as well as functional academics that can be used every day.

Skills are broken down by using task analysis to determine the component parts of a skill. The amount of steps in a skill needs to be determined on an individual basis. If at all possible the skill training should start at the beginning of a task and finish at the end of a task. For Example: If a child is working on cooking, the task should begin by determining what will be cooked. The next steps would include putting together a shopping list (pictures can be used), determining how much money the ingredients will cost, and going to the store to purchase the food. The last step of the task would be the actual cooking of the food, and sampling what was cooked. Breaking down the tasks in this way not only is teaching the child cooking, but also shopping for the food, money skills, etc.

While academic skills are important for all children with disabilities, many parents and advocates seem to overlook, the importance of functional skill training and instruction. These skills need to be addressed during a child’s school career, but absolutely during the child’s transition from high school to adulthood.

Adaptive skills are often discussed rather than functional skills, when a child is being considered for school reevaluation, but I consider adaptive and functional skills similar.

Why does a child need functional and adaptive skills?

1. To be prepared for post school learning. One functional skill that is often overlooked is social skills, but is important for not only post school learning but in every aspect of a child’s life. If the child attends a vocational program after high school they need to learn to interact with other students as well as teachers.

2. To be prepared for employment. A lot of functional skills are used every day, during job hours. For example: Employers expect workers to come in clean, and in uniform. The functional skill of grooming and making sure that they are groomed properly and in uniform, may need to be taught to some children with disabilities, as it may not come natural to them.

3. To be prepared for independent living. Some children with severe disabilities may never be able to live by themselves, but can be taught skills to be independent, in certain areas. These areas could be dressing and grooming, picking what they are going to wear, learning to match clothing to the weather, etc.

Accessing transportation is another functional skill that children with disabilities may need specific instruction in.  For example: How to access the bus system, how to read the bus schedule, and how to determine what bus to take to make it to work on time, and back home. Being independent in the area of transportation is an important skill for a child with disabilities to have.

Money skills are also important for children with disabilities to learn. Other skills that are critical to learn for independent living are: How to open a bank account, how to sign checks, how to set up a budget and how to pay bills. Cooking and shopping is are other functional skills that young people with disabilities need to receive instruction in.

Functional skills are important for all children and soon to be adults with disabilities to learn! They will help the child become as independent as possible as they can be in their life!

Next Blog Post: IDEA and Functional Skills